


Trick or Treat

by orphan_account



Series: Enchanted Worlds [5]
Category: Princess Tutu
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen, Halloween
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-11
Updated: 2013-10-11
Packaged: 2017-12-29 02:06:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/999601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The family celebrates Halloween.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trick or Treat

Halloween morning dawned crisp, cool, and clear. And despite waking up late from a dream she couldn’t remember (but was sure had been good, this time), Ahiru instantly knew what day it was. There was always something different in the air on Halloween, some kind of _feeling_ that suffused everything with a kind of low-key yet ever-present excitement that buzzed through you all day. It was even more pronounced today, because she knew already that this was going to easily be her best Halloween yet. She was going to spend it in her wonderful new home, with people she deeply cared about, and nobody would be mean to her or try to scare her or steal her candy, and she had a beautiful costume to wear. Seeing it hanging beside her clothes, she couldn’t help beaming at the costume as she got dressed.

Breakfast was already on the table when she arrived and in a nice treat, was different from the usual one they got every other morning. There were sausages and fried potatoes, a pot of hot, fragrant apple cider instead of tea, and a basket of freshly baked pumpkin spice muffins. Ahiru eagerly dug into all of it, nearly choking once as she gulped down some cider and earning gentle admonitions from both Fakir and Rue to be careful and eat and drink more slowly.

“There are no lessons today because of the holiday, so we should go pick flowers after we’re done here,” Rue said as she finished her breakfast. “I’ve secured Chrestomanci’s special permission for this, so those pesky gardeners won’t bother us about it. After that we can come in and make them, I’ve got the rest of the materials in my room.”

“Them?” Ahiru swallowed one last bit of cider. “I thought you were just going to make one for me.”

“Well, it’s like this… if Uzura sees you with it – and she will – she’ll want to know why she doesn’t have one.” Rue grinned. “So we’ll be making one for her too, because we don’t want a tantrum on our hands. And trust me, we don’t.”

Ahiru shuddered, remembering the times when Uzura had thrown tantrums. “Y-yeah, good point, we definitely have to make one for her too!”

After breakfast was done, she and Rue headed out to the gardens, while Fakir went to the library. Ahiru felt a slight pang of wistfulness as she watched him walk away – nearly walking herself into a wall because she was more focused on looking at him instead of at where she was going – because she did so enjoy those library trips with him. She was excited about completing this last portion of her costume, though, and there would be other library visits, so she pushed those feelings away and happily accompanied Rue to the back door of the castle, where they found baskets and scissors waiting for them with notes about how they’d been temporarily disenchanted so that they wouldn’t whine at them about belonging to the castle when they took them outside.

“What kinds of flowers are you going to pick for mine?” Ahiru asked as they headed towards the flower garden.

“Well, they have to go with both your costume and your hair, so I’m thinking some light pink, and yellow, and maybe something white to go with it,” Rue explained. “Uzura’s will be easier, I just have to go with the flowers I know she likes, regardless of how they match or clash. She’s not too concerned about that sort of thing.”

Ahiru giggled. “Yeah, that sounds like her. Oh, um, how about – how about if I make you one too? Would you wear it? I mean, if you don’t want to, that’s okay, I understand, but if you do I’d be happy to make you one, it probably won’t be any good cause it’s my first time making these but since you’re making one for me I feel like I should but maybe –”

“I’d love one,” Rue interrupted, neatly cutting off Ahiru’s nervous babbling. “That would be wonderful, Ahiru, thank you. And I’m sure it’ll be lovely, so don’t worry about that, okay? I’ll love whatever you make because it comes from you – it’ll be in your unique style, and that will make it beautiful.”

“Oh… okay…” Ahiru swallowed and looked away to hide the tears that were starting to prick at her eyes. No one had ever said anything like that to her before; she’d grown up hearing that her efforts weren’t good enough and had come to believe that nobody would like anything she made no matter how hard she worked at it. “I’ll make one for you, then.”

“Good!” Rue smiled. “I look forward to seeing it!”

Ahiru still felt like she wouldn’t be so eager and happy once she actually did see the results, but didn’t say anything, because she didn’t quite feel up to having that conversation. And it would’ve been interrupted anyway, because a team of gardeners loomed up in front of them as they reached the entrance to the flower garden, sensing their intent from the sight of the baskets in their arms.

“You are not allowed to pick flowers,” the one at the head of the crowd gloomily intoned, and the rest of them nodded their heads. “Take those baskets away.”

“Normally, we’re not, but today I’ve got Chrestomanci’s special permission.” Rue reached into a well-concealed pocket in her skirts and produced with a flourish a slip of paper that had elegant handwriting on it. “In writing, if my word isn’t good enough for you.”

“Hmmmm…” The head gardener inspected the note, and then handed it back to Rue with a disdainful grunt. “Very well then. Only just this once.”

The gaggle of gardeners dispersed, grumbling, and proceeded to vanish, as usual, behind trees and hedges and possibly into some special subspace that they occupied until it was necessary to emerge and fuss at interlopers. It was hard to say. Rue smirked at them as they walked off, and then led the way into the gardens.

“Feel free to wander off on your own, after all we’re both kind of doing our own thing here,” Rue said as she paused to cut some pink rosebuds. “You don’t have to stick close to me, not when there are so many flowers to see.”

“Okay,” Ahiru said. She watched Rue snip some more of the rosebuds, and then walked off to look around at the flowers. There were so many, and they were all so pretty that she felt a bit overwhelmed by the vast amount of options she had. She took a look back at Rue and what she was wearing – though she reminded herself that Rue was likely to change for dinner – and tried to think of what color combinations would go best with Rue’s hair and eyes and skin. She also wanted to make one for Fakir so that he wasn’t left out of this – maybe he didn’t like dressing up, but it still seemed mean to exclude from something the rest of them were doing for Halloween.

She didn’t have to go far before she found something she liked: a bush of roses that had velvety red petals in a spiral pattern unlike anything she’d seen before. It reminded her somehow of the way the forbidden garden seemed to spiral inwards. The sign beside the rosebush said that they were a variety from Series Seven that bloomed in autumn in the English Alps. She took her scissors and carefully cut several of them, making sure that she didn’t scrape her hands on the thorns.

She also ended up picking some snowdrops, some red phlox, a few black irises whose glossy black petals seemed to, in the right light, reflect some dark green, some deep violet lily of the valley from Series Eight, some golden jasmine, and some silver hibiscus from Series Six that almost sparkled in the sunlight. Her little basket was nearly overflowing by the time she finished, and so was Rue’s when they met at the entrance again.

“That looks like a lovely little variety,” Rue commented, glancing at Ahiru’s selection. “Did you just pick what you liked and you’ll decide when we start in which ones you’ll use?”

“Kinda? I guess?” Ahiru shrugged. “I – I mean, I have some ideas, but, but I think I’ll have to look at them together to see what order I want to put them in and I’m still not sure how to do this, and oh, I hope I won’t mess up…”

“You won’t.” Rue patted her arm. “I’ll be right there to show you how to do it, remember? I’ve done this before and it’s not that hard. You’ll be able to pull it off, don’t worry.”

They went back to Rue’s room, where Ahiru found that Rue had spread out an old blanket the way she had on the night of their sleepover, and assembled the rest of the necessary equipment: lengths of wire, some more scissors, and some ribbons. They sat down on the blanket and set aside their baskets of flowers. Rue reached for some of the wire, and a pair of scissors, and moved towards Ahiru.

“Now, I need to measure your head for this, so that it’s not too small or too big. We could adjust it with magic afterwards, but it’s simpler to try and get it right from the start,” Rue explained. She coiled the wire into a few circles around Ahiru’s head, and snipped it when she felt it was thick enough. She then melded the sharp ends of the wire with the rest of it, creating a seamless, smooth circle. “I got this wire from Charon, by the way, and he crafted it specially so that there’s no iron in here. You should be able to do what I just did with the ends on mine.” She handed Ahiru some of the wire. “Here, do the same for me.”

“Okay.” She took the wire and the scissors from Rue, and proceeded to measure Rue’s head. “Um, what about Uzura’s? Should we call her in here to do this for her too?”

“I thought about that, but I’d really like this to be a surprise for her, so I’ll have to guess at it, and if I get it wrong, I can just adjust it with magic, like I said.” Rue shrugged. “It’s really not that hard.”

“Oh, okay.” Ahiru was cheered up by that – it meant she could also surprise Fakir with his, and not worry too much about getting the size wrong. “So, how do we attach the flowers and make them stay on here?”

“That’s easy too.” Rue moved back to the other side of the blanket as Ahiru finished measuring and connected the wire ends. “We’ll wrap any stems around the wire, or just stick the flowers onto them, and use the same sort of magic we just used to make the wire ends stick to the rest to make the flowers stick on there. And it’s easy to undo later if you want to save and press the flowers, so if you decide that this flower would look better next to that one instead of this other one, you can just remove it and put it back on in the right place.” She picked up one of the pink rosebuds and demonstrated it for Ahiru. “See? Like that.”

“That doesn’t look so hard, no.” Ahiru considered the assortment of blooms she’d brought in. “I – I guess the really hard part is deciding where to begin…”

Rue laughed. “Yeah, that’s always the toughest bit. I already know what I’d like to do with yours, so it’ll be a little easier for me this time. Just try not to peek, all right? I’d prefer it if you got to see it as a finished product, rather than seeing every little step.”

“A-all right!” Ahiru nodded. “An-and don’t look at yours, either! I want it to be a surprise for you too!”

“Fair enough.” Rue smiled.

Ahiru put her head down, then, and concentrated on building Rue’s crown. It was tempting to sneak a peek at the one Rue was making for her, but that wouldn’t be fair and so she bravely resisted and made herself focus on which flowers she wanted to use and how to arrange them. She ended up making a pattern that set little bunches of the lily of the valley next to the jasmine, and some of the red phlox next to the jasmine, followed by the silver hibiscus and then back again to the lily of the valley, and she somehow managed to make it circle around perfectly.

“Is it safe to look yet? Are you done?” Rue asked her as she critically eyed her handiwork, not sure if she liked it or not and a bit worried about what Rue would think. “I’m done with yours if you want to see.”

“O-oh, y-yes, I – I’m done with yours too!” Ahiru looked up, eager to see what Rue had made for her despite her own trepidation about what she herself had crafted. Her eyes lit up as she saw it: Rue had strung together pale pink rosebuds, yellow honeysuckle, little daisies with heart-shaped pink petals, and clusters of baby’s breath. She’d also attached matching ribbons of pink, yellow, and white to the back “Oh! Oh, Rue, it’s so pretty! I love it!”

“I’m glad.” Rue carefully set it aside. “And that’s mine?” She smiled as she looked at what Ahiru had made for her. “I love it, that’s going to look great. I was hoping you’d use some of those silver ones, they’re gorgeous!”

“You really like it?” Ahiru held it out to her, and bit her lip. “I – I wasn’t sure when I was done if it really looked okay, I didn’t know if you’d like the colors together or how it would look on you, or…”

“Only one way to find out.” Rue took the circlet from her and put it on her head. “What do you think?”

“I – I like it!” Ahiru sighed with relief. The colors did indeed look lovely against Rue’s dark hair. “It looks really good on you!”

“I told you it would.” Rue eased it off and set it next to the one she’d made for Ahiru. “You did wonderfully, just like I said you would. See?”

“Y-yeah.” Ahiru blushed. “Th-thank you so much, for – for liking it and for making me one and for helping me.”

“My pleasure.” Rue picked up another length of wire and coiled it into a circle she estimated should fit Uzura’s head. “Now to make one for Uzura too…”

She was so busy working on Uzura’s that she didn’t notice Ahiru pick up the last of the wire and form it into a circle, guessing at how big it should be to fit on Fakir. She wasn’t entirely sure of what she’d wrought when she was done shaping the wire, but at least she knew it would be fixable later if it was too big or too small. For his crown she used the velvety red roses she’d liked so much, along with the black irises and the snowdrops.

Rue glanced over at her as she finished constructing Uzura’s, arranging a diverse selection of flowers in every color of the rainbow. “What’s that one for? Just practicing?”

“No.” Ahiru shook her head as she attached the last snowdrop. “This one is for Fakir. I didn’t want him to get left out, you know?”

“Oh. Ah.”  Rue paused, trying to choose her words carefully. “That’s – that’s nice of you, I’m – I’m sure he’ll appreciate the thought.” If not the actual object, she added silently. She had serious doubts as to the likelihood of Fakir agreeing to wear such a thing, but she wasn’t sure she had the heart to say so and crush Ahiru’s hopes. Her first instinct was to protect her from getting her feelings hurt, but she wasn’t certain that an attempt to warn her against this course of action, however well-intentioned, wouldn’t hurt her too. It was a dilemma.

“I hope so.” Ahiru smiled down at her handiwork. Even if she wasn’t sure about having gotten the size correct, she was definitely proud of what she’d done. She loved how the shiny black irises looked next to the red roses, and the little snowdrops with their white and green petals made a pretty contrast to both. She couldn’t wait to see how it looked on him.

Rue cleared her throat. “In – in any case, all this hard work is making me hungry, and I think it’s almost time for lunch. Want to go see if it’s ready?”

“Okay!” Ahiru set aside Fakir’s crown and leapt up from the floor to follow Rue. She hadn’t noticed while they were working, but now that Rue had mentioned it, she did feel awfully hungry, her stomach rumbling pitifully at her.

When they got to the playroom, Fakir was already there, reading a library book while eating some of the lunch that had been laid out for them. There was a fresh pot of cider, some corned beef sandwiches, pickles, mashed potatoes, and a plate of pumpkin-shaped gingersnaps for dessert. He looked up at them as they entered, and then marked his place with, Ahiru was happy to see, the duck bookmark she’d bought him before closing the book. He knew the chances of continuing to read his book in peace were extraordinarily low now that Ahiru was in the room, but he didn’t really mind. After nearly losing her recently, he was even less inclined to take it for granted that he got to see her and talk to her every day.

“Sorry we’re late!” Ahiru said as she settled into the chair next to him and began to serve herself. “I guess we took longer than we thought to make them. But it was really fun…”

“It’s fine.” Fakir shrugged. “The food only just got here a few minutes before you did.”

“Oh, that’s good.” Ahiru poured herself some hot, cinnamon-scented cider. “Ah, I’m so hungry…”

“You’re dressing up as a ballerina, right?” Fakir asked casually, as if he had forgotten. Of course, he actually remembered very clearly her excitedly showing him the costume the day after she’d bought it and how she’d babbled on about how happy she was to find it and how glad she was that she could wear something like what her mother must have worn. It had been hard not to smile back at her as she talked so eagerly about it, her cheeks flushed and her eyes all aglow.

“Yeah!” Ahiru’s eyes lit up. “Rue’s going to help me do my hair, and loan me jewelry, and paint my nails, and I’ll wear the costume I showed you! I – I mean, I still don’t know if it’ll look right on me, and maybe I’m too old for this kind of thing now, but –”

“You worry too much, idiot,” Fakir interrupted. “If it’s what you really want to wear, wear it. Does it matter how old you are? Adults dress up too, and after the Halloweens you described at the orphanage, it’s fine if you want to make up for lost time and have some fun for once. It’s your first one here, so you should enjoy it. Stop fretting so much and just enjoy yourself.” The way he saw it was, it made her happy, so she should do it. It was that simple.

“O-okay.” Ahiru gulped. “I – I’ll try.”

“That reminds me, Ahiru,” Rue said. “There’s something I have to do after lunch before I can help you get ready for tonight. I don’t know how long it’ll take, but I promise I’ll be back in time. Is that all right?”

“Y-yeah, of course. But…” Ahiru tilted her head a little. “What exactly are you going to do?”

“It’s a secret.” Rue winked. “If all goes well, I’ll be able to show you, so just be patient and wait.”

“Okay.” Ahiru thought for a minute, and then turned to Fakir. “U-um, what are you going to do after lunch?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Huh?” She hadn’t been expecting him to say that.

Fakir sighed. “I know you’re thinking about something specific you want to do, so spit it out.”

“W-well, maybe… I mean… um…” Ahiru fidgeted. “I was kinda thinking… I mean, if you don’t want to and you’d rather read I understand and that’s fine, but I was kinda wondering if maybe you’d want to um take a walk down to the duck pond with me cause I haven’t been there in a while and I’ve really been wanting to go but it’d be no fun on my own so I thought I’d ask you in case you felt like it too.” The last part of it came out all in a rush, and they were all privately surprised that she hadn’t stumbled over any words.

“The ducks have probably all flown south for the winter by now,” Fakir pointed out as he reached for a gingersnap, having already finished his lunch. “I doubt you’ll see any.”

“I – I know that, but I still like it there anyway cause it’s so pretty.” Ahiru shook her head. “A-and anyway I was also thinking maybe we could explore a little further past the pond cause I don’t think we’ve ever really been out further than that. I – I mean, if – if you want, that is.”

“Hmmm.” Fakir pretended to think it over. “I guess it doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Oh, good!” Ahiru brightened instantly at that. “I’m so glad, thank you so much, Fakir!”

“It’s nothing worth thanking me over.” Fakir shifted in his seat, his face feeling warm all of a sudden. “I didn’t have any real plans for the afternoon anyway.”

“I’m still happy, though.” She smiled brightly at him, and for a moment he forgot how to breathe. He looked away quickly, but not so fast that she’d think he was angry with her or something.

Once they’d all finished lunch, Rue indeed disappeared to take care of whatever she wanted to do, and Fakir and Ahiru headed out to take their walk to the duck pond. Ahiru admired the Halloween decorations around the castle as they passed through the halls; there were jack-o-lanterns in every window, fake spider webs strung up in corners, a few stuffed black cats here and there, and some of the old suits of armor on display had been bewitched so they rattled and groaned at you as they passed. Normally, such a thing would have frightened her, but as she’d helped set it up, she found it funny instead.

It had gotten colder and cloudier while they’d been inside, but it didn’t seem like there was any threat of rain, at least. Ahiru noticed some of the gardeners as they walked through the flower gardens, but that was because they wanted to be seen: at intervals, they’d pop out from behind a hedge or rosebush or tree to send suspicious looks or glares at her before disappearing again.

“I don’t think they’re happy that we picked so many flowers,” Ahiru said, hiding a giggle behind her hand. “They looked so grouchy about it when Rue showed them the note saying we had permission.”

“They’re always in a bad mood, from my experience,” Fakir said dismissively as they moved towards the arbor at the end of the garden. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“Oh, I’m not worried. It’s kinda funny.” Ahiru kicked a pebble down the path. “They’re just trying to do their jobs, so I don’t really blame them. I guess I’d be cranky too if I had to keep everybody from picking the flowers or the fruit or going into that forbidden garden. It can’t be easy. I bet they’re much nicer when they’re not working.”

He couldn’t picture Ahiru being bad-tempered in the slightest, she was far too sweet for that, but he didn’t voice the thought. “Or maybe that’s just the way they are. You probably wouldn’t want to talk them on their time off, people like that aren’t enjoyable to be around.”

“You don’t know that.” Ahiru shook her head. “We don’t really know what they’re really like, they could be nice. I mean, I – I used to think you were always in a bad mood when we first met but that was cause I didn’t really know you, and then I got to know you and now I know how nice you really are and I _do_ enjoy being around you and it’s fun to do stuff like this together.” She felt her face getting as hot as his had been earlier. “It – it’s just better not to assume the worst of people, you know? You never know who you might end up being friends with.”

“Hmph. I guess.” Fakir was looking away, so he didn’t see her blushing. If he was honest with himself, he’d admit that he’d needed to hear something like that from her to help explain why she’d said she liked spending time with him, so he’d tried to use a convenient conversation to pull it out of her. He still didn’t quite understand why she saw him the way she did, but at least it partly made a little bit of sense now. Only a tiny bit, but it was enough.

They wandered through the orchards after that, both of them steadfastly ignoring the ruined wall as it loomed up first on one side of them and then on the other. As Fakir had predicted, the duck pond was quiet and lonely when they got there, the only motion in the otherwise still waters an occasional ripple when the autumn breeze disturbed the surface.

“Awwww, I was kinda hoping there’d still be some here,” Ahiru said sadly as she stared at the empty pond. “I mean, I knew you were probably right, but it feels so sad to see it empty, you know?”

“They’ll be back in the spring.” Fakir picked up a rock and tossed it nimbly onto the pond. It skipped several times, reaching just past the middle before sinking. “And they’ll have ducklings. It’s better for them not to be here right now, anyway, because the pond freezes in the winter.”

“Y-yeah, Rue told me that.” Ahiru tried skipping a stone too, but it didn’t make it very far before it sank into the water. “She mentioned going skating on it, do you know how to skate? I’ve never gotten to do it before.”

“I’m all right.” Fakir shrugged, and started to walk past the pond, Ahiru following closely behind until she caught up with him. “We could show you how, if you want.”

“I – I’ll think about it.” Ahiru swallowed. “It sounds kinda scary, and I’ll probably fall down, cause I’ve never tried it and I don’t know how and I’m not very graceful in the first place…”

“Everyone falls their first time. It’s part of learning how. Don’t worry too much about that.”

“I guess. Ooh, what’s that?” Ahiru peered at something in the distance that she’d just spotted, beyond some trees. “It – it looks like… a bridge?”

“It is.” Fakir nodded. “There’s a stream down that way. You’ve never seen it?”

“No.” Ahiru shook her head. “I’ve never been out this far. It’s exciting!”

To Ahiru’s mild surprise, the ruined wall made a couple more appearances on both sides of them as they advanced towards the bridge, but well-timed glances directly at it prevented it from looming up in front of them. When they got to the bridge, Ahiru found that it was made of wood, with black wrought iron railings in an intricately looped design that came to just about to her waist. It was slightly rusty in places, and covered with ivy; the ivy leaves helped relieve some of the funny feeling in her stomach as she leaned on the iron and gazed down at the peacefully flowing stream. The trees around them in this area were maples, their leaves a riot of beautiful autumn colors. Some of them had fallen or been blown into the water, and floated languidly down the stream.

“Wow…” Ahiru gazed in wonder up at the colorful trees, and then back down at the water, softly glimmering in the pale sunlight. “It’s all so pretty… I wish I’d come out here before…”

“This is iron, you know,” Fakir said as he leaned against the railing next to her. “Does it bother you?”

“A little bit,” Ahiru admitted. “I mean, it never used to back when I wore the pendant with the original chain all the time, but I think that’s cause I got so used to its effect on me that I didn’t notice anything was wrong. But it doesn’t make feel really sick, and the ivy leaves help. It makes it not so bad.”

“All right.” He glanced over at her. “If it starts to bother you more, though, just step back. There’s nothing wrong with avoiding the thing that’s your weakness.”

“I know.” Ahiru gave him a small smile. “I’m fine right now, but I will if it starts to get to me.”

They enjoyed the tranquil beauty of the area in silence for a while, just basking in the peaceful environment and the pleasure of each other’s company, until Ahiru reluctantly pointed out that it was getting a little late and she should probably go back to the castle soon so she could get ready. So they walked back past the lonely duck pond and through the orchard and the flower garden, till they got to the door, where Uzura greeted them just inside, having woken up from her nap a short time before.

“You went on a walk without me zura?” Uzura pouted up at them. “That’s not fair zura!”

“I’m sorry, Uzura,” Ahiru apologized. “We really couldn’t take you with us, though, cause you were asleep.”

“You should have waited zura!” Her expression was mutinous as she folded her arms.

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t do that either.” Ahiru shook her head. “I have to go get ready and put on my costume now.”

“Ooooohhhh!” Uzura clapped her hands together excitedly, her annoyance instantly forgotten. “Can I help zura?”

“Don’t you want it to be surprise?” Fakir cut in as Ahiru tried to think of a nice way to tell Uzura “no” that wouldn’t hurt her feelings. “It’ll be more fun if she can surprise you with her costume.”

“I guess zura.” Uzura deflated a bit. “But… but what’ll I do till then zura?”

“I’ll play with you in the playroom if you want,” he offered. “We can wait for them in there.”

“Ooooohhh, okay zura!” She cheered up at that, and ran off towards the stairs.

“Thanks, Fakir,” Ahiru said quietly as they followed Uzura. “I – I didn’t want to hurt her feelings by telling her she couldn’t help.”

He nodded at her. “I know.”

They split up when they reached the second floor, Fakir going off to play with Uzura and Ahiru heading towards her room. She took her costume out of her wardrobe, pausing to admire it once more before going back down the hall to Rue’s room and knocking on the door. “Rue? Are you there?”

“Yes! Come on in!”

Ahiru opened the door to find that Rue had already changed for dinner into a dress that better matched the flower crown she was going to wear, and had cleared everything off the floor and moved the flower crowns they’d made onto her bed, neatly arranging them in a row. In front of her vanity table she’d added an extra chair so they could both sit there instead of the floor as she painted Ahiru’s nails. “Were – were you able to do what you wanted?”

“Yes.” Rue smiled. “I’ll show you later. For now, go change into your costume and then come over here and sit down so I can paint your nails. Oh, and bring a towel out with you – I need something to put across your lap in case I somehow drip polish on you.”

“Okay!”

Ahiru hurried into Rue’s bathroom and started changing into her costume. It was a little big for her in some places, but she was easily able to adjust it to fit her body. Her hands shook with excitement as she tied the slippers on, and she felt a fresh surge of happiness as she gazed at herself in the mirror once it was on. She wasn’t completely ready yet, but even so, the costume was so lovely that she couldn’t help but feel a little pretty for once. She smiled at her reflection and then hurried back out to Rue’s room, towel in hand.

“Oh, I like that!” Rue exclaimed as she caught sight of Ahiru. “See, I told you it would be right for you and that you should wear it.” She waited for Ahiru to sit down and spread the towel over her lap before opening up the bottle of pale pink nail polish that she’d purchased the day they’d had their sleepover. “Okay, give me your hand.” Ahiru obeyed, and Rue began to polish her small nails. “Oh, and I found some golden glitter polish in my collection while I was waiting for you, I can do swirls or something on top if you’d like,” she added as she painted.

“Yes, please!” Ahiru nodded eagerly. “That would look so pretty!”

“Consider it done, then.” Rue finished with Ahiru’s right hand and took hold of her left so she could apply the first coat. “So, did you have a good time on your walk with Fakir?”

“Oh, yes!” Ahiru’s eyes sparkled, and Rue had a hard time holding in her laughter. “We went out past the duck pond, and it was empty like he said it would be, which was sad kinda but at least they’ll be back in the spring and have ducklings, and then we found this stream and there was a pretty bridge across it and all these maple trees, and we just kind of stayed there for a while before coming back inside. I really liked it, have you ever been out there?”

“Oh yes, many times.” Rue took Ahiru’s right hand again so she could apply the second coat, because the color had come out a little bit sheer on her nails. “I found it when I was a little girl, and I showed it to the prince when he first came here and I gave him a tour. We’ve gone out there a lot since then.” Her face turned a little pink, and she bent lower over Ahiru’s hand to try and hide it. “It – it’s nice, and a little private.”

Ahiru giggled. “Yes, it is. I bet you two have fun out there!”

“D-don’t get the wrong idea!” Rue blushed more deeply as she switched hands again. “It’s just – a good place where we can talk, away from the rest of the world. He gets so little of that back home that it’s a good break for him. And as much as I love Uzura, it’s good to get away from her for a little while too and just have some time to myself with someone like him.”

“It’s okay to tell me if you like him like that and he likes you,” Ahiru said as she watched Rue apply the second coat to her left hand. “I can keep it a secret and I won’t make fun of you.”

“Oh, Ahiru, I know that.” Rue sighed. “It’s just… well, I don’t know how he feels, really. He seems to feel the same way sometimes, but… he can also be hard to read. Not the same way Fakir is, so secretive, but more… well…” She set Ahiru’s hand down and thought about how to word it. “He’s so… well, it’s hard to tell sometimes if he’s trying to flirt with me or he’s just being kind, because he’s so kind to everyone, and he says strange things at times that I don’t know how to make heads or tails of. Isn’t it funny?” She gave a sad little laugh. “I can often tell that other people like each other, like with Miss Goatette’s crush on Mr. Katz, but I can’t tell if the guy I like likes me back.”

“Oh, Rue, don’t feel bad about that.” Ahiru frowned. She wanted to squeeze Rue’s hand, but she feared that if she did she’d mess up her wet nails. “I don’t think it’s your fault, it sounds like he’s less obvious about it than Miss Goatette is, and it doesn’t seem like Mr. Katz has noticed her feelings either. I guess maybe it’s easier to see how somebody else feels than it is to tell when someone likes you? Especially if you like them. It’s scary, so you’re probably afraid and that’s maybe messing up how easily you can read him.”

“That could be it.” Rue sighed as she opened up the bottle of golden glitter. It sparkled in the light, and Ahiru fidgeted with excitement at the thought of seeing it on her nails. “Because you’re right, it _is_ scary. I do really like him, a lot, but oh Ahiru, what if he doesn’t see me that way? What if he just considers me a friend? Don’t get me wrong, I do like being his friend and that wouldn’t stop even if it turns out he’s not actually trying to flirt with me, but I… I can’t help wanting more.”

“W-well, I don’t really know him, I mean, we haven’t even been introduced properly yet, but… but I’m sure he does like you!” Ahiru smiled encouragingly as Rue picked up her hand and began to swirl gold glitter onto her nails. “You’re so pretty, and smart, and kind, and really good at magic, so I’m sure he really likes you too! You two would make a perfect couple, I know it!”

“You’re so sweet to say so.” Rue smiled back at her. “I know you mean it, yes, don’t take it that way as though I don’t believe that! And – and I hope you’re right.” She took Ahiru’s left hand and started applying the glitter there too, smiling again as Ahiru held up her right hand to look at the little swathes of sparkly gold on top of the light pink. “I really do. And… while we’re on this topic… you know you can always tell me if there’s someone you like, right? And I’d keep your secret, of course, and I wouldn’t make fun of you for liking them, not ever. You know that, right?”

“Of course!” Ahiru said chirpily as she continued to admire her nails. “I’ll tell you if I ever do, I promise!”

She didn’t see the way Rue gaped at her, for she swiftly hid it by turning away to replace the cap on the polish. Was Ahiru really that oblivious to her own feelings for Fakir? There were times when she seemed slightly aware of her attraction to him, but on the whole she didn’t seem to have noticed how she really felt about him. This was going to be… difficult, to say the least. For all of them.

“All right, that’s done, then,” Rue said when she’d managed to recover from that little shock. “While you wait for them to completely dry – and you are hereby banned from touching anything until I’m completely sure of that – I’ll do your hair.” She stood and walked over to stand behind Ahiru and unbraid her hair.

“How are you going to style it?” Ahiru asked, turning her head to watch Rue in the mirror.

“In a bun, like ballerinas wear. It’ll be nice and simple and out of your way.” Rue picked up a comb and ran it through the length of Ahiru’s hair as she finished unbraiding it. It was incredibly long, and there was a lot of it, but it was also a bit on the fine side and not overly thick, so it wasn’t too heavy and didn’t get tangled easily, it seemed like. It was also silky soft despite that it was so unruly in certain areas on top of her head, so clearly Ahiru was taking good care of it. That would make this easier.

“And to complete it…” Having finished, Rue ran over to her bed and fetched Ahiru’s flower crown, and perched it atop her head around the bun. That one particular lock of hair was still sticking straight up, and some of the shorter bits around her face had been too short to pull back into the bun, but it was okay. It looked adorable nevertheless. Rue beamed at Ahiru’s reflection in the mirror. “You look wonderful!”

“I…” Ahiru stared at her reflection in the mirror. She could hardly believe it was her own self that she was looking at, that was looking back at her. Somehow, the ballerina costume combined with the flowers and her hair being up and the sparkly polish on her nails really did make her feel pretty, for the first time in her life. “I… I do look nice like this… Rue, you made me pretty, thank you!”

“No, I didn’t.” Rue squeezed her shoulders. “All I did was enhance what you already have. Do you see now what I’ve been saying to you about trying different things and seeing what you like helping you to feel more confident? It’s fun to experiment, and it helps show you what was there all along.”

“I – I guess… maybe…”

“ _Definitely_.” Rue walked over to where her jewelry box was, and pulled something out of it. “Now, I found something that I think suits you and this outfit perfectly, but if you don’t like it, you can look for something else.” She held it up in front of Ahiru’s neck: it was a delicate little gold choker, set with an oval-cut pink tourmaline at the center. “What do you think?”

“It… it’s perfect…” Ahiru’s eyes were wide as she looked at it. “Is – is it really okay if I wear it?”

“Of course!” Rue fastened it around Ahiru’s neck and admired how it looked. “Oh yes, this definitely makes the whole thing complete.” She took the towel from Ahiru’s lap. “I’d say your nails are safe by now, though you should still be careful. Let’s go show off before dinner, shall we?”

“Yes!” Ahiru ran over to the bed and carefully retrieved the crowns she’d made for Rue and Fakir. “Here’s yours!”

“Thank you.” Rue placed the crown on her head and took a good look in the mirror, smiling at her reflection, before heading over to grab the one she’d made for Uzura. “We’ll probably have to go looking for Uzura first, so we can give this to her…”

“No, we won’t.” Ahiru shook her head. “She was at the door when I came in with Fakir, and she wanted to help me get ready and I didn’t know how to tell her she couldn’t without hurting her feelings, so Fakir was nice enough to help by promising to play with her while they waited for us, so they’ll be in the playroom.”

“Well, that’s convenient.” Rue laughed. “Okay, so we’ll head there, and then down to dinner.”

Rue led the way, which Ahiru appreciated because it let her hide the flower crown she’d made for Fakir behind her back. She wanted to surprise him with it, rather than have it be the first thing he noticed about her when she walked in.

When they got there, he was standing in front of one of the cupboards putting away some toys, which evidently was displeasing Uzura. Her unhappy expression changed when she heard the door open, though, her eyes lighting up as she saw Rue and Ahiru come in. Fakir, meanwhile, just stared as they entered.

“Ahiru! You look so pretty in your costume zura!” Uzura exclaimed.

“Yes, I think so too.” Rue looked straight at Fakir, a slight smirk on her face. “Don’t you think so, Fakir?”

“Y-yeah.” His eyes were drawn to how freckly her little shoulders were; he swallowed hard and swiftly averted his gaze back to her face. “It – it suits you.” He cursed himself inwardly – what kind of pathetic compliment was _that_? What he really wanted to tell her was how beautiful she was, but the words just wouldn’t come out.

Ahiru blushed and beamed up at him as if he had said it, though. “R-really? Th-thank you, Fakir! Thank you so much!” He barely had time to feel his face grow as warm as hers looked before she spoke again. “I – I made you something!” She brought her hands out from behind her back and held the flower crown towards him. “I – I didn’t want you to be left out, s-so I made one for you too so we all have one! Will you wear it?”

Fakir stared at the circlet of flowers. Rue had put the one she’d made for Uzura on Uzura’s little head by now, and he could feel her eyes on him even though he wasn’t looking at her; he was certain she was smirking at him. Uzura herself was twirling around happily, and Ahiru was giving him a hopeful look. He had two choices: refuse and hurt Ahiru’s feelings but keep his dignity, or agree and look ridiculous for the rest of the night but make Ahiru happy.

Actually, it really wasn’t much of a choice at all. “… Yeah.” He reached for the crown, but Ahiru stood up on her toes and placed it on his head herself before taking a step backward to admire how it looked on him.

“Oh, thank you for wearing it!” She beamed at him again. “I’m so happy, thank you, Fakir!”

He could hear Rue quietly snickering, but Ahiru looked so happy that he couldn’t help but smile a little at her. Rue promptly choked on her laughter and stared in shock at him, but neither Fakir nor Ahiru noticed, because in that moment they only had eyes for each other.

The all too brief moment was interrupted, however, by Uzura tugging on Ahiru’s hand. “Ahiruuuuuuu! Look at the one Rue made for me zura!”

“I saw.” Ahiru smiled down at her, still feeling all aflutter inside from Fakir’s compliment and smile and how he looked in what she’d made for him. “It looks really pretty on you, Uzura!”

“Thank you zura!” Uzura clapped her hands together happily. “Can we go eat now zura?”

“Of course!” Ahiru took Uzura’s hand and led her out of the room. Fakir and Rue followed, a little bit behind the two.

“You know…” Rue murmured to Fakir, just low enough that Ahiru wouldn’t be able to hear it from where she was walking, “Red roses symbolize true love in that language of flowers thing people used to use for covert communication. I wonder if Ahiru’s trying to tell you something.”

She had the distinct pleasure of seeing Fakir’s face turn roughly the same hue as the roses in question. “Wh-what? What are you… what are you talking about, she’s not – we’re not – I don’t know what you mean, and she – she – she probably doesn’t know anything about that! You’re ridiculous!”

“Not for the first time, I wonder if you have any right to be calling _me_ that.” Rue smirked at him. “In case you haven’t guessed, I’ve figured you out. I know what’s going on.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, and neither do you,” Fakir retorted, his face still red.

“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong, we both know what I mean. You’re just pretending not to.” She patted his arm. “Don’t worry, though, your secret’s safe with me. It’s really better if _you_ tell her, after all.” She hurried to catch up with Ahiru and Uzura before he could reply. “Ahiru! Remember, we’re eating in the other dining room!”

“Oh yeah! I almost forgot!”

The “other dining room” was on the opposite side of the castle from the one they normally ate in and was, Ahiru had been told, used only for private family occasions like holiday dinners and birthdays, and never to entertain guests. It was smaller and cozier than the more formal one, with large windows that looked out on the forest that bordered that side of the castle, and a few armchairs arranged around a large, plush rug where the Christmas tree would be put up in about a month or so. The large round table they had eaten lunch on the day that Drosselmeyer had tried to kidnap Ahiru had come from there, and when they entered the room, it was already laid out with food, and Chrestomanci was waiting for them in one of the seats.

“Oh wow…” Despite having lived at the castle for two months now, and being served excellent dinners every night, Ahiru was still impressed by the feast before her. There was roast chicken, roast beef, meat pies, fried potatoes, peas, carrots, beets, steamed spinach, freshly baked bread, more pumpkin muffins, onion soup, lamb chops, applesauce, and stuffed apples. There were kettles full of spiced tea and more cider too, and a caramel milkshake for Uzura.

“Please, sit and enjoy,” Chrestomanci said, indicating the array of food before them. They didn’t have to be told twice, and all sat down to eagerly tuck into the meal. “There will be dessert afterwards too.”

Ahiru took a little bit of almost everything, and ate slowly and carefully, with multiple napkins covering her so as not to drip or spill anything on her beautiful costume. She didn’t want to fill up too much and not have room for dessert, but everything was just so delicious that she wanted to at least try all the things she liked.

“Ahiru, you look lovely,” Chrestomanci complimented her as they finished eating. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you really were a ballerina.”

“Ah! Thank you!” Ahiru looked embarrassed. “I – I don’t think I really look like a real ballerina, but that’s so nice of you to say…”

“It is what I honestly believe.” Chrestomanci rose from the table, but Uzura tugged on her skirt before she could walk away.

“What about dessert zura?” she asked. “You said we’d have it after dinner zura!”

“We will, but not just yet.” Chrestomanci smiled as she lifted Uzura out of her chair and set her down gently on the floor. “We’ll let our dinner settle a bit first, dear, and then we’ll have dessert. I promise.” She walked over to where the armchairs were arranged around the big empty space where the Christmas tree would be, and settled herself in one. Jack-o-lanterns with softly flickering candles inside were set in the large windows that looked out on the forest; it was dark by now, and a thick fog had begun to gather amongst the trees, so the light from inside the carved pumpkins lent the night a bit of an eerie glow.

“Ooooohhhh!” Uzura ran over to one of the windows, and pressed her face and hands to the glass. “So spooky zura!” She turned around with an excited look on her face. “Tell me a Halloween story zura! I’m old enough this year zura!”

“Oh, I’m not sure about that.” Chrestomanci shook her head sadly. “Those tend to be rather scary, and Mama doesn’t want you to have any nightmares.” She’d already been having too many after the incident with Drosselmeyer, after all; she was bouncing back more quickly than the older ones, but it still didn’t seem wise to add to that.

“But I want to zura!” Uzura stamped her foot on the floor. “I’m not scared zura!”

“I’m sorry, but I still don’t think it’s a good idea.” She shook her head again. “Perhaps next year.”

“But I wanna –”

“I think I know a story that would fine for her,” Fakir interrupted, drawing both Chrestomanci and Uzura’s attention to him. “It’s a Halloween story, but it wouldn’t be too scary for her. Would it be all right if we told her that one?” He gave Chrestomanci a look as if to say “it would certainly spare us all a tantrum”.

“Yes, I think so.” Chrestomanci nodded. “I trust your judgment, Fakir. Please, tell her this story.”

“A-all right.” Fakir conjured up an old book of fairy tales and folk legends from his room, and then sat down in the center of the rug that was laid where the tree would be, his back to the windows.

Uzura rushed over and stood in front of him. “Are you going to read it zura? Or will Ahiru?” She looked over at Ahiru, who was standing at the edge of the huge rug; Rue had already taken a seat in one of the other armchairs.

Fakir reached up and adjusted Uzura’s flower crown with one hand. “I’ll let you decide.”

“But – but I can’t decide zura!” Uzura looked back and forth between them, with something like alarm on her little face. “You pick zura!”

“It’s your book, Fakir, and it was your idea,” Ahiru said. “You go ahead and read it to her. You’re probably better at it than I am, anyway.”

“I don’t –” Fakir paused, catching himself just in time. Ahiru didn’t know that he’d heard her reading to Uzura that time. “How do I know that? I’ve never seen you read to her, and she clearly likes having you do it. Y-you might be better suited to a fairy tale.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t!” Ahiru shook her head. “I bet you’re better suited to it than me, and she really likes hearing you read to her too, so…”

“I have an idea.” Rue sounded both exasperated and amused. “Why don’t you both read it to her? If the story I’m thinking of is the same one you’re going to read to her, it’s perfect for that – Ahiru could read the dialogue for the lady in the story, and Fakir could read for the man.”

“W-well, I…” Fakir hesitated, looking up at Ahiru. “Maybe… I mean, if you want to…”

“Of course I do! That sounds so fun!” Ahiru smiled and walked over to sit right next to Fakir, her arm brushing against his as she leaned over to look at the book. “Here, this’ll make it easier, we won’t have to keep passing the book to each other and it’ll go faster!”

“Y-yeah, I suppose so.” Fakir laid the book across their laps, trying to ignore how it felt to have her so close, and flipped through it to find the correct story. Uzura settled herself down in front of them not too far from where they were sitting, an eager expression on her face. “I – I’ll start, then?”

“Yeah.” Ahiru nodded. “Go ahead.”

“All right.” He cleared his throat and began to read. “Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young maiden named Janet, who lived in a stone castle beside a great forest.”

“Like this castle zura?” Uzura interrupted.

“Yes, if you want it to be.” Fakir looked up at her. “It’s a fairy tale, so picture it however you like. They didn’t tend to give detailed descriptions of very much in those stories.”

“Oooohhhh.” Uzura pondered this. “So how should I picture the girl zura? Does it say zura?”

Fakir shook his head. “Imagine her however you want; as I said, there aren’t any descriptions of the characters’ appearances, so you’re free to picture them in any way you like.”

“I see zura.” Uzura frowned. “I’m not sure how to picture them though zura.”

“How about this?” Rue interjected.  “Picture the hero and heroine as Fakir and Ahiru, since they’re reading the story. That should be easy enough, I think.”

“I –” Fakir sent Rue a fierce glare behind Ahiru’s back, which was met with a smirk. He could feel his face already getting hot _again_. He was well aware that this story was a love story, as was Rue, damn her, but did Ahiru know? Finding out didn’t seem like his idea of a good time, and to have Uzura and maybe even Ahiru herself picturing the two of them as the leads…! And what was worse was that he was almost certainly going to do the same thing, now that the idea had been planted in his head. How had a simple effort to avoid one of Uzura’s tantrums turned into such a disaster?

“Oooohhh, I like that zura.” Uzura moved from a sitting position to lying on her stomach with her chin perched in her hands. “Keep reading zura. I want to hear more zura.”

“Then try not to interrupt anymore,” Fakir gently chided her. He returned his attention to the book, though his mind was still fixed on the suggestion from Rue and what consequences it might have. “Ah… anyway…” He coughed. “One hot summer day, Janet grew bored within her castle, and decided that she would explore the forest, for she had never been inside it and longed to see what delights and mysteries lay hidden within. Her ladies in waiting tried to warn her against this course of action, for it was that the woods were forbidden to all, and full of danger, but she merely laughed.”

“You have no cause to worry,” Ahiru read, taking over for the moment. “I will one day be mistress of these lands, and a poor one I would be if I did not know them as well as the back of my own hand. I fear nothing, for there can be no foes lurking in my home, and the small magics I have been taught are surely enough to repel any beast that would seek to harm me. I shall be perfectly safe, do not fret.”

“So saying, she set off into the forest alone, ignoring the protests of the ladies in waiting.” Fakir turned the page. “And at first, the woods were as enchanting and peaceful as she had believed they would be. Flowers carpeted the forest floor beneath her feet, and the sunlight that streamed through the branches of the tall trees was tinted green by the lush foliage. Birds sang, and she saw no creatures more threatening than a small white rabbit crossing her path.”

“She’s going to meet someone scary though zura?” Uzura asked.

“Just wait and see what happens.” Fakir glanced over at Ahiru. She was studying the illustration of the forest on the opposite page, a look of fascination on her face. He was transfixed by her for a moment, but then mentally shook himself and refocused his attention on the book. “After a time of wandering the woods, she came to something of a clearing, where a beautiful lake with crystal blue waters was surrounded by close-set trees, with roses twined around all of them. As she took it all in, she soon realized that she was not alone – a man stood gazing at the lake. His back was to Janet, but he turned to face her when he heard her tread upon a branch.”

“Oooohhh! I knew it zura!”

“’Who are you?’ he asked her in a soft voice,” Fakir continued, ignoring Uzura’s latest interruption. “’What cause have you to be here? I am set to guard these woods and this lake, and I cannot allow a trespasser.’”

“At this Janet took umbrage, her ire swiftly drawn,” Ahiru read. “’No trespasser am I! These woods lay on my father’s lands, which will one day be mine; I have every right to be here! Who are you that you dare to challenge that right and call me an intruder?’”

“’I mean you no harm, my lady.’ He bowed to her, and kissed her hand.” Fakir’s face grew hot all over again, and he didn’t dare look at Ahiru. “’I did not know who you were; forgive me my slight against you.’”

“Janet was st-still slightly peeved, but s-somewhat mollified by his apology,” Ahiru read, stammering slightly over some of the words. She couldn’t help but picture herself and Fakir as the man and woman in the story as Rue had suggested Uzura do, so imagining him kissing her hand just like in that dream she’d had was leaving her a bit flustered. “Her expression softened a bit as she gazed back at him, for he seemed sincere in his remorse and was quite h-handsome as well.” She blushed harder as she read that particular word aloud. “’Very well, then, sir, you are pardoned on account of your ignorance. Tis a simple mistake to make, I suppose, for we have never met before this moment and I have never entered these woods before.’”

“’I would indeed recall meeting someone as lovely as you before,’ he said, offering her a smile.” Fakir could feel his ears getting hot now. “’Please, I ask of you again – I would know your name, fair lady.’”

“’It is Janet, sir.’ She curtsied. ‘I too wish to know your name, will you not tell me?’”

“’I am called Tam Lin,’ he told her. He then plucked a red, red rose from one of the vines that encircled the trees, and held it out to her. ‘Even were these woods not your birthright, I still would give every one of these blooms to you, for although they pale in comparison to you, you are yet the only one beautiful enough to deserve them.’” Somehow, Fakir vowed silently to himself. Somehow, he would get revenge on Rue for her suggestions tonight. He heard a muffled snicker from her general direction, and had to force himself not to glare at either her or the book, lest Ahiru or Uzura suspect that something was wrong.

“J-Janet blushed as she accepted the rose from Tam Lin. ‘Y-you are too kind, good sir.’” Ahiru was blushing just as much as the fictional Janet was in the story. The idea of Fakir calling her beautiful and giving her a flower was just too much for her to handle, and she didn’t know whether she wanted to hide her face in her hands or giggle uncontrollably or both.

“’Nonsense, I merely speak the truth, my lady.’” Fakir turned the page with a hand he was fighting to keep steady. “He then took her hand, and led her down to the edge of the lake, and they talked for many an hour, until the sun began to sink down into the sky.”

“’Oh Tam Lin, I have enjoyed your company, but I fear we must part now, for my father will be a-wondering where I am,’ Janet said, distress evident in her trembling voice.” Ahiru was, he’d noticed, adjusting her own voice to try and act the part of the character, the way she had done different voices and inflections for Uzura that night he’d overheard her. Her voice was still unmistakably hers, but she spoke in a way that sounded so much like the smitten young heroine that it was distracting at times. “‘I am most sorry to leave you, but I do not wish to make my family worry for my safety, nor do I wish to incur their wrath.’”

“’I understand. You need not apologize.’ He bent and k-kissed her hand again.” Fakir cursed himself for stumbling over that word. He did _not_ need to make things obvious, especially after the way Rue had taunted him before dinner. “’I only ask that you return on the morrow, for I would dearly love to see you again.’”

“She could see in his eyes, though he tried to hide it, how lonely he was, how he had yearned for human company before her arrival, so Janet readily agreed. For she too had truly enjoyed speaking with him, and was secretly glad of the invitation to come back.” Ahiru shifted slightly.

“And so, day after day, for the next few months, she continued to visit him in the woods. They grew closer to each other with each encounter, for as they had the first time, they spent many a long afternoon in close conversation as they walked amongst the trees and sat beside the lake.” This was, he knew, a sanitized version written for children that omitted what Janet and Tam Lin had actually done in the original tale. He tried not to think about that as he read on. “She kept the secret of where she vanished to every day from everyone else in the castle, but one morning as she walked through the castle courtyard, a seer who happened to be present realized where she had been and who she had been with, and cried out Janet’s secret for all to hear.”

“Left with no choice, Janet was forced to admit to what she had been doing these past months, though she offered no apology for it. ‘It is my right to wander the forest if I will, and Tam Lin has done nothing improper besides. I have committed no crimes, have not sinned – nothing I have done is wrong!’”

“But the seer had not revealed the name of the man she had befriended, and a great cry went up among those who were present. It seemed that Tam Lin was no mortal man at all, but a fairy, and the fair folk were not to be trusted by humans, for they were full of mischief and would take any chance to harm them.”

“Janet went pale at this, and ran from the castle and into the forest, that she might confront Tam Lin with this secret.” Ahiru turned the page, her hand brushing Fakir’s. “As she ran, she realized that she l-loved him, and that her feelings of pain and betrayal came from the shock of being d-deceived by the one she l-loved.” Oh, _why_ had Rue made that suggestion? Reading the story together was fun, but this was so embarrassing! “When she reached the lake, he was there as always, and though she quaked with fright, she nevertheless began to shout at him, demanding to know the truth and why he had lied to her.”

“Tam Lin assured her, however, that though he was commonly believed to be a fairy, he was a mortal human just as she was, and that he had once been a proud knight. ‘Seven years past, I fell from my horse while riding in these woods, and an enchanted sleep stole over me while I lay beneath an oak tree. When I awoke, I was in the land of the fairies, and had been claimed by the Fairy Queen. I am able to be here with you by day, but at night I must return to her kingdom. I long to escape, but I fear there is none for me.’”

“Janet felt a great terror squeeze her heart at the despair in his voice. ‘Oh, but surely there must be a way!’ she cried. ‘Please, you must tell me, for if I can assist you to escape, I shall!’”

“’There is one way, but… oh, Janet.’ He shook his head, and reached out his hand to gently touch her cheek.’” Not for the first time, Fakir regretted ever mentioning this story. Uzura didn’t seem to suspect anything, and was so entranced by the tale that she hadn’t interrupted in quite some time, but he still didn’t dare look at Ahiru. “’I cannot ask it of you. It is far too dangerous.’”

“’Oh, but you must!’ Janet insisted, taking his other hand in hers and squeezing it tightly. ‘For I – I l-love you, and – and I would r-risk anything to save you a-and keep you by my side!’” Ahiru’s voice squeaked slightly as she read that line.

“Tam Lin stared at her in wonder. ‘I have not dared to say so before, for I feared I lacked the right to burden you with such a confession, but I truly love you as well, my dear Janet.’” He was never going to forgive Rue for this. Or himself, really – he’d forgotten just how soppy the dialogue in this version of the story was. “’If you sincerely wish to free me and make me yours, then you must come to the crossroads at midnight. Tonight is Halloween, you see, and every seven years on that night, the fairies must pay a tithe to hell. I fear that tonight they intend their sacrifice to be myself. But it will not be an easy task – you must pull me from my horse, and hold fast, regardless of what I transform into. Only if you do not let go will you be able to claim me and free me from the Queen; when I return to myself, I will truly be yours, forevermore.’”

“Janet promised him that she would be there, and that nothing could keep her away. She then ran home to prepare herself for what would happen. Her father sought to lock her in her room to keep her from leaving the castle again, but she was able to slip out by using magic to open the door, and ran to the crossroads in the dead of night, under the light of the full moon.”

“When she got there, it was as Tam Lin had described to her. A bonfire had been created, and the fairy procession was winding towards it.” Fakir turned the page. “She ran to her beloved, and though he looked down at her with bewitched eyes and did not seem to know her, she pulled him from his horse and into her arms. As he had warned her, he began to change his shape quite against his will, first to a small lizard, and then to a snake, and then a snarling boar, and several other shapes besides. The final one, though she did not know it, was that of a blazing ember, and though it caused her great pain, still she held him tightly and was soon rewarded when he returned to his own shape within her arms and looked at her with recognition, gratitude, and love.”

“Janet was overjoyed,” Ahiru read, “and the two happily embraced. The Fairy Queen, however, was greatly displeased. She had no choice but to relinquish him, but as she rode away called out that if she had known this would happen, she would have replaced Tam Lin’s human heart with one of stone, and his mortal eyes with eyes of wood.”

“She and her company left them in peace, however, and Janet and Tam Lin returned hand in hand to her father’s castle. Her father blessed their union in the end, and the two wed and lived happily ever after.” Fakir closed the book and looked over at Uzura. “The end.”

“What a wonderful story zura!” Uzura clapped her hands together, her face glowing with delight. “Thank you zura!”

“Yes, thank you very much,” Chrestomanci said. “You make wonderful storytellers, you two.”

“Th-thanks,” they mumbled in unison, their blushes deepening slightly as they realized they’d spoken at the same time.

“Oh yes, I agree,” Rue said, smiling widely. “ _Very_ entertaining.”

“Um, um, thank you, um, how about dessert now?” Ahiru got up in a hurry and padded over to the table. “A-all that reading made me really hungry a-and thirsty, a-and look! Everything’s here!”

“So it is.” Chrestomanci rose to join her, and Uzura, Rue, and Fakir followed. “I’d say it’s the perfect time to enjoy it.”

They sat back down at the table then, to start feasting on the myriad sweets that had been prepared for them. There were apple and pumpkin pies, more gingersnaps, caramel corn, candy apples, a chocolate cake decorated with marzipan witches and ghosts, and a nearly endless assortment of various candies from the sweet shop in the village.

“No more zura,” Uzura mumbled sleepily as she leaned back in her chair after ingesting a large amount of dessert. “Too much food zura.”

“Mmmm. I would say so,” Chrestomanci said as she stood and picked up her yawning daughter. Uzura’s eyes fluttered shut and she relaxed into her mother’s embrace. “I think it’s time for bed now. Say goodnight, Uzura.”

“Night zura.”

The other three bid Uzura goodnight, and watched as she was carried out of the room by her mother. Once she was sure that they were well out of earshot, Ahiru spoke up. “Um, um, maybe this isn’t okay to ask, but… um… I’ve been wondering this for a while… um… who’s Uzura’s father?”

“An excellent question.” Rue reached for another chocolate truffle. “One that nobody seems to know the answer to, and that I’ve never had the courage to ask.”

“Really?” Ahiru tilted her head. “Huh. Do you think it’s someone in the castle?”

“That’s the most popular theory, yes.” Rue swallowed a bite of the truffle. “There’s multiple candidates, but most people are about evenly split between Charon and Mr. Katz, with the sub-theory that Mr. Katz’ obsession with marriage is a product of Chrestomanci having refused to marry him.”

“Whaaaaaat?” Ahiru looked bewildered. “Th-that’s – do you think that’s true?”

“Not in the slightest.” Rue shook her head. “I’ve never seen Mr. Katz display even the slightest bit of romantic interest towards her. And as I told you earlier, I can often be rather good at spotting that sort of thing, even when people are trying to hide it or are oblivious to their own feelings.” There was something distinctly wicked about her smile as she poured herself a fresh cup of cider.

“Th-that’s not the only theory, though,” Fakir said hastily, his face heating up again. “There’s also the theory that it’s someone from another world entirely, and/or that he died shortly after Uzura was conceived, so it’s too painful for Chrestomanci to talk about. And it’s hard to tell, in any case, because Uzura looks so much like her mother.”

“Th-that makes sense,” Ahiru said, attempting to keep her voice steady. She hadn’t noticed how flustered Fakir was again, largely because she was trying to hide her own internal panic at the moment – did Rue think she had a crush on Fakir or something? She was acting so weird about that sort of thing tonight, and it was confusing and scary. She found him attractive, certainly but, but… she couldn’t possibly have those kinds of feelings for him, not really. It just couldn’t be. Could it? “I – I can’t picture her really wanting to keep Uzura from her father, anyway.”

“Neither can I,” Fakir said, relieved that Ahiru had gone with the slight change in subject but not realizing why. “Something must have happened to him that she doesn’t want to talk about, and Uzura will hear it when she’s old enough. It’s really none of our business if she doesn’t feel comfortable sharing it with us.”

“Very true.” Rue sipped at her cider. “And for the record, that’s my personal theory about the matter too. It’s just – oh!” Her eyes widened. “I can’t believe I almost forgot – I wish I’d remembered earlier, so Uzura could see too!” She reached into another unseen pocket and produced a photo, which she handed to Ahiru. “This is what I was doing after lunch: I found it!”

“You found wh – oh!” Ahiru’s eyes widened too, in surprise and delight. It was the photograph Rue had recently mentioned, of herself and Fakir dressed up in Halloween costumes. Rue was beaming at the camera, clad in a sparkly little blue dress with glittery wings, with an obviously fake tiara on her head and a wand in her hand. But what really drew Ahiru’s attention was Fakir. He had on toy armor, and was brandishing a wooden sword and shield. She’d expected him to be scowling at the camera, that he had had to be coerced into posing for a picture with Rue. But instead there was a shy, hesitant smile on his little face that made her heart melt. It really _was_ adorable. “Awwwww! You both look so cute!”

“Don’t we?” Rue grinned. “It’s one of my favorite pictures that we’ve had taken, I love our costumes. And for once, Fakir doesn’t look like a sourpuss in it. It’s amazing!”

“Hmph.” Fakir scowled and folded his arms. As if he needed more embarrassment after reading that story, now Ahiru was cooing over a ridiculous photo of him. “Cute” was the last word he’d ever have used to describe himself, even at that age. He almost wished he _had_ found it first and gotten rid of it, except that that would’ve broken his word to Ahiru and made her unhappy. He sighed inwardly. There was really no winning here.

“We should put it up somewhere next to that picture of me, don’t you think?” Ahiru was looking at him. “You know, the one of me with the birds. Wouldn’t that look perfect?”

“I don’t know about perfect, but sure.” Fakir shrugged. “Do whatever you want.”

“Yay!” Ahiru smiled down at the picture again before setting it carefully aside where it wouldn’t get sticky or dirty from the food still on the table.

They sat up for a while longer, eating candy and talking about various things, until they all agreed that they had better head to bed because they had lessons the next day and Mr. Katz was not the type to accept excuses, even the day after a holiday. So they extinguished the candles in the jack-o-lanterns, and went upstairs.

Fakir was just about to go into his room when Ahiru’s voice stopped him. “Fakir?”

“Yes?” He paused at his door and looked back at her.

“I – I just wanted to say, um…” She twisted her hands together and looked down at her feet. “I – I really enjoyed reading the story to Uzura together, it was a lot of fun and you’re really good at it.” She looked up at him and smiled, her cheeks faintly pink. “Thank you!”

“It – it was nothing.” He could feel himself getting uncomfortably warm again at the sight of her smile, combined with remembering about how he’d pictured them in the roles of the story characters thanks to Rue, and what had happened between Janet and Tam Lin. “I just – she – I didn’t want her to throw a tantrum. It’s no big deal.”

“It was to her, though, and I had so much fun, so it wasn’t ‘nothing’.” Ahiru shook her head, still smiling. “Goodnight, Fakir! Have pleasant dreams!” She bounded off to her own room without waiting for him to say anything in reply.

“Goodnight, Ahiru,” he said softly, before going into his room and shutting the door.

That night, they would both have dreams that cast them as the main characters of the tale they had read to Uzura, though neither would tell the other.


End file.
